01 Sep Is Hill House Design Right for You? (Discover Why)
If you’re looking for something to scare your friends this Halloween, look no further than Netflix’s wildly popular series The Haunting of Hill House. With its intricate set design and innovative camera techniques, the show is the perfect example of how setting can enhance storytelling.
The story explores a family’s struggle to overcome grief and generational trauma, says the similarly named team by Hill House Design. The nuanced character portrayals have resonated with many viewers.
1. It’s Unique
The Haunting of Hill House takes the viewer on a journey that is both thrilling and frightening. Its use of a non-linear narrative allows for the characters to be introduced in their full complexity, and gives the house itself an almost omniscient presence. This is a result of the way that the architecture is presented, which combines styles like Victorian, medieval, and Gothic in such a way as to create an almost schizophrenic effect.
The story begins with Eleanor, who is staying at the Hill House with her mother’s caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, who warn her to stay away. Despite her instinct to leave, she is drawn to the warm and witty Theodora. They become fast friends, though their relationship is complicated by Theodora’s connection to the house’s past.
While Macintosh was known for his elegantly detailed work, he also created spaces that were both functional and comfortable. His home was built for family living, and it reflects this with rich wood panelling and heavy frames for the portraits that line its walls.
But the most striking aspect of Hill House is its architectural form. Its curved and embracing forms are an expression of the Arts and Crafts movement, which rejected the mass-produced and machine-made pieces produced in factories. The rounded shapes and expressive ornamentation on the exterior of the building also reflect these ideals.
Another important aspect of the design of the house is its connection to nature. Its oblong openings are meant to represent the landscape, and the house is designed so that it appears to be part of the surrounding forest. This connection to nature is reflected in the interior rooms, which are filled with natural materials like stone and timber.
In order to protect the house from the elements, the National Trust for Scotland had to make some radical decisions. Infrared thermographic and micro-wave moisture surveys were performed, and a decision was made to place the house inside a large chainmail box to shield it from water damage.
It’s clear that the architecture of the Hill House is both beautiful and unique, which makes it a desirable property. But what if it was also dangerous? Would this change the overall feel of the home, or should the owners decide to move in anyway? The answer to these questions lies in the ancient Greek philosophy of Plutarch’s Ship of Theseus. The Ship of Theseus is a metaphor for the idea that if you change one element of something, it can no longer be considered the same thing.
2. It’s Beautiful
When it comes to designing a Hill House home, there is no doubt that style and beauty play an important role. Hill House designs often blend modern and traditional elements with an emphasis on the surrounding natural landscape. Whether it is using white Texas limestone to frame the house or adding stacked stone accents to the interior, these features help the built structure meld with the natural environment.
This design style also often blurs the line between indoors and outdoors. The use of atriums, courtyards, and expansive glass are all designed to bring the outside in. This design style is perfect for those who want a light and airy home that integrates seamlessly with nature.
If you are interested in building a Hill House, it is important to choose a site that will allow for the best possible results. You will want to take the time to walk through your lot and carefully consider where the house would fit on the slope of the land. You will also want to make sure that the house is oriented for optimal sun and wind conditions. Once you have found the ideal spot, it is important to sketch out your ideas and determine if there are any potential obstacles.
While it may seem like a challenge to build a home on a steep slope, it is actually quite feasible with the right Hill House design. There are many different types of Hill House designs, but one of the most common is a walk-out basement. This type of home plan allows for a lower level to be used as an informal family space, while still providing plenty of natural light and access to the outdoors.
In addition to the benefits of a walk-out basement, a hillside home plan can also provide a number of other advantages. For example, because the ground slopes away from the house, it is often possible to add terraced gardens or patios. These spaces can be used for outdoor entertaining and relaxing, and they can also serve as a natural buffer between the house and the busy streets below.
3. It’s Expensive
Designed by Hybrid and built on a steep lot that would have been traditionally deemed unbuildable, Hill House is an adaptable single-family home offering unexpected privacy for an urban dwelling—not to mention breathtaking views of Seattle and the mountains beyond. The Hill House also features a versatile ADU on the lower level, as well as flex space with moveable full-height wardrobes that allow the entire home to be reconfigured at will by the homeowners.
The Arts and Crafts movement of the Edwardian era rejected the mass-produced, factory-made products of the industrial age in favor of traditional craftsmanship and ideals. While this approach was often seen in the interior design of homes like Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House, it didn’t come cheap. Cocooned in dark wood panelling and adorned with heavy frames and portraits, the family drawing room alone cost the Hill family over PS9,500 ($750,000 in today’s money).
Increasingly in Los Angeles and throughout the United States, local hillside ordinances, building codes, and coastal regulations impose restrictions on hillside construction to preserve the profile of natural hillside terrain. The Hill House sets a new precedent for hillside building by liberating itself from these restraints—not through evasion, but through strategically transforming stringent development criteria into a sculptural and efficient design solution.
The Hill House is the result of a long friendship between founding partners Helen Bygraves and Jenny Weiss, who share a common belief in the power of beautiful surroundings to transform lives. The award-winning design duo’s client-centred approach has led them to become one of the UK’s leading interior design practices, operating out of a creative studio and lifestyle showroom in London and a luxuriously appointed office near Dubai.
With a global reach, Hill House Interiors specializes in designing high-end residential projects from London to Lake Como to the Bahamas and Ibiza. Whether the project calls for an elegant penthouse apartment, a palatial home, a lakeside villa retreat, or a beautifully engineered yacht, the team is committed to providing an uncompromising blend of luxury, comfort, and functionality. To learn more about the firm, visit their website.
4. It’s Timely
For decades, Hill House emanated pride and belonging in the Hill District neighborhood, where it was one of a few community centers that anchored black culture. It offered everything from music lessons and concerts to parenting classes, as well as medical care for young and old alike. But since the 2000s, the nonprofit has struggled to restructure its business model and find new ways to fund it.
In recent years, Hill House’s financial troubles became even more acute. In 2017, the organization’s president and CEO, Cheryl Hall-Russell, was replaced by an interim leader who brought in a private firm to help settle debts and rekindle programs. But the new board soon realized that foundation support for Hill House had dwindled, according to people familiar with the situation.
By January 2018, the Hill House Main building flooded with three feet of water after a frozen water main burst on Martin Luther King Day. The flood stranded tenants and forced staff to evacuate the facility, including a dental clinic and a medical clinic. The water main was only repaired months later. And by April, the Hill House board would vote to dissolve the organization.
The flooding could not have happened at a worse time for the Hill House. Just months earlier, local elected officials challenged the Hill House’s sale of four of its properties to Pittsburgh-based developer Omicelo. The officials said the sale violated Hill House’s legal status as a charitable nonprofit.
In an interview with PublicSource, Lavelle and Wheatley cited the Hill House’s decreasing support from private foundations as one of many factors contributing to its financial struggles. They also criticized a study that found that, in 2004, only about 12% of private foundation grants went to black-led organizations.
Hybrid Design’s solution to the challenges of a steep lot—which was once deemed unbuildable—was to integrate the building into its surroundings by utilizing the slope to create outdoor rooms, a garage and an ADU (ADU is a type of accessory dwelling unit). Its oblong apertures and angular geometry, which are influenced by the sculptural language of Land Art, further advance the concept that landscape can be a primary objective for architectural design.